East Imperial's new owner, INL Investments, is positive it can return the brand to its former heights, with the help of local manufacturer Brix & Co.
A former investor in the parent company of Kiwi alcoholic beverage business East Imperial has taken over the brand and wants to expand it in partnership with the Auckland manufacturers.
East Imperial was founded in Auckland in 2012 by Anthony Burt.
It went into liquidation on July 30, 2024, after its parent company, East Imperial Pte, defaulted on a loan to INL Investments, which took over the business and decided to wind up the New Zealand subsidiary due to its liabilities.
A final report by liquidator Deloitte released last week shows the New Zealand company was wound up and deregistered from the Companies Office owing $7.8 million in debts that are set to go unpaid.
But the brand’s new owner wants to reassure its fans that the popular drinks aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
INL Investments’ director, Horace Ngai, who is based in Hong Kong, said he believed strongly in the New Zealand brand.
“Since the very beginning of our journey with East Imperial, we have loved the brand and believe it has the potential to be loved by many international consumers across the globe.”
Ngai said INL loaned £2.2 million ($4.78m) to East Imperial Plc in August 2023.
But despite the funding the company was unable to get back on its feet and ran out of cash by April 2024.
Ngai explained that the previous business model was “inefficient” and “not able to create value and investment for the brand”, particularly post-Covid.
He said the previous model relied on a contract-manufacturing supply chain, which constituted a high percentage of the business’s gross sales, and narrow international distributorship.
These issues weren’t helped by a lack of clear marketing and commercial investment, as well as accelerating on-trade difficulties during and post-Covid.
Ngai also acknowledged that the listing and subsequent commitments after being listed on the London Stock Exchange were too onerous.
He said they were too expensive for a business of East Imperial’s size, and that the heavy management attention should have been better focused on investing in the brand itself.
Ngai said that despite the operational and management issues with the business, he passionately believes East Imperial deserves a second chance and is working with family-owned beverage manufacturing business Brix & Co.
Brix & Co, owned by Brent and Denise Sutton, includes Kumeu vineyard and restaurant The Hunting Lodge, and bottles a raft of beverages on behalf of other brands.
The business has evolved over the last three years to represent a portfolio of brands, including The Hunting Lodge, ALBA and Foxhole under the name Socialsmiths.
Socialsmiths employs over 100 locals across hospitality, manufacturing, sales and support.
Socialsmiths head of sales and marketing Michael Tutty said the business had a very close relationship with the former owners of East Imperial and had manufactured its beverages for the past four years.
The business took over selling East Imperial products as well on September 1, 2024.
“We weren’t given any customer data, sales history, stockist lists, imagery or even a functioning website. It’s been a true rebuild, with a lot of effort put in from all of us here,” Tutty said.
“There’s been an amazing supplier response in the face of the harsh reality of liquidation. As a supplier ourselves this is really personal for us too. As such, we’ve kept the same local suppliers for ingredients and packaging.
“Everyone wants to see East Imperial succeed again and success itself is what we all want and are focused on.”
Tutty said that the support from trade and early consumer traction has been very positive, believing customers want a locally made range of products.
Retail banners like Foodstuffs and Farro stores have continued to stock supply, while Liquorland and Super Liquor have been great supporters of the new Gin & Tonic RTD range.
Tutty explained that because they didn’t receive any customer data, sales history or stockist lists, the business has had to reach out to businesses to determine if they even had the products to begin with and restart those relationships.
Now that the business is under new management, its owners are already looking for new ways to invest and refresh the brand, including new products, markets and determining what else East Imperial can be.
Tutty confirmed the business has already done some early work on potential alcohol products, with more to come in this space.
As for fans of the brand wanting reassurance, Tutty said the business has newfound optimism in its future.
“The very first part is that the brand hasn’t just vanished or disappeared, and there’s actually a lot of people, not just us, but a lot of people working really hard to restore it back to where it should be.
“There’s lots of suppliers who are equally really committed to its long-term success. East Imperial hasn’t gone anywhere.”
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.